Red Rising

My Review (Spoiler Free)

Red Rising is a futuristic science fiction novel about a society of Space miners on Mars. They are one caste of interplanetary society that grew out of and away from Earth. The caste of our protagonist, Darrow, is the Reds. Reds are the lowest class of this society and Darrow's specific group of Reds lives and dies far beneath the surface of Mars, mining for precious resources that are used in the terraforming process. As far as these individuals know, they are the first bastion of human life on Mars and they have been working for centuries to help further the galactic empire. This worldview quickly crumbles and launches Darrow on a course of confrontation with the society and class of his birth. We follow Darrow through various revelations and world shattering events and witness his personal responses and reactions. We grow with Darrow and begin to sympathize with characters we thought were enemies at first. This book is written in a gripping and personal way. It is very much worth the hype. Though the ending seemed a bit rushed and chaotic to me, it summed up the story of the first book and has me looking forward to continuing this saga with Darrow.